Filling cakes

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for filling cakes, particularly doughnuts, comprises a conveyor having a plurality of cake holders for conveying successive transverse rows of cakes horizontally, the cake holders holding a plurality of cakes side by side in each transverse row, an injecting station having a transverse row of nozzles with at least one nozzle for each cake position in the row, tilting means for tilting the cake holders adjacent the nozzles so that during injection of filling material each cake is tilted to allow a nozzle to be inserted into an exposed side wall of each cake.

United States Patent 19 [111 3,871,274 Hornby Mar. 18, 1975 v FILILINGCAKES Inventor: John Alfred l-lornby, Cambridge,

England Assignee: John (Huntingdon) Limited,

I-Iuntingdon, England Filed: Sept. 7, 1973 Appl. No.: 395,190

Foreign Application Priority Data July 23, 1973 US. Cl 99/450.8,[41/329, 198/30 Int. Cl. A2lc 9/06 Field of Search ..'99/450.8, 532,533;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1902 Clarke 98/148 X 10/1930Estrin 99/4508 X ynr tssi s epm-rs-r-my ,4 ,9

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 476,013

Primary Examiner-Robert L. Bleutge Assistant Examiner-Alan CantorAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson [57] ABSTRACTApparatus for filling cakes, particularly doughnuts, comprises aconveyor having a plurality of cake holders for conveying successivetransverse rows of cakes horizontally, the cake holders holding aplurality of cakes side by side in each transverse row, an injectingstation having a transverse row of nozzles with at least one nozzle foreach cake position in the row, tilting means for tilting the cakeholders adjacent the nozzles so that during injection of fillingmaterial each cake is tilted to allow a nozzle to be inserted into anexposed side wall of each cake.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 5/1929 Germany ..99/450.8

PATENTEDHAR] 8 I975 SHEET 1 or 5 PATENTEDHAR 181975 SHEET 2 OF 5 iii.

-iiiii.

Y GHQHGHQHQNG IQHQHGHGHAQNG W GNGNGHQHQH. AQNGHGHQHGHQ y g PATENTEU I 75SHEET 3 [IF 5 FILLING CAKES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The inventionrelates to apparatus for filling cakes particularly cakes such asdoughnuts.

In apparatus used in the manufacture of cakes, such as apparatus forfilling or coating cakes, it is desirable to convey a number of cakesside by side in transverse rows so that treatment is carried out onall'cakes in a transverse row at one time. To achieve automaticoperation it is necessary for the cakes to-arrive at the machine inaccurately aligned transverse rows, otherwise the cakes will not be inthe required position at the required operating station. Furthermore,with a number of cakes arranged closely side by side in a transverserow, access to the sides of the cake is limited due to obstruction byadjacent cakes. These problems are particularly apparent in the fillingof doughnuts. It is common practice for the doughnuts to pass inparallel lanes through a frying bath and although they remain in theirlanes, they do not necessarily leave the bath in accurately alignedtransverse rows. Furthermore, at the station where filling occurs, it isnecessary for the filling material to be injected into the sides of thedoughnuts as it is a normal commercial requirement that the jam or otherfilling should not run out of the top or bottom of the doughnut.

It is an object of the present invention to provide automatic cakefilling apparatus which reduces the aforementioned difficulties and issuitable for use with doughnuts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides apparatus forinjecting filling material into cakes, such as doughnuts, whichapparatus comprises a conveyor comprising a plurality" meanslocatedadjacent the conveyor and including a plurality of injectingnozzles extending across the conveying path with at least one nozzleadjacent each cake position,'means for tilting the cake holders whenadjacent the filling means so that the base of each cake in the rowadjacent the fillingmeans is inclined to the horizontal and therebyexposes an edge region of the cake, and means for effecting relativereciprocating movement between the injecting nozzles and the row ofcakes adjacent the filling means to inject the nozzles into the exposededge regions of the cakes, whereby filling material may be injected intothe cakes, and then withdraw the nozzles from the cakes.

By tilting the cake holders when adjacent the filling means, an edgeregion of each cake in the row is exposed and not obstructed by theremaining cakes lying in the plane of the conveyor.

Preferably the direction of reciprocating movement to inject the nozzlesis parallel to the inclined bases of the cakes.

Conveniently the cake holders each comprise an open tray member with aside wall adjacent the lower edge of each cake when tilted but no sidewall adjacent the said exposed edge region of the cake. In this way, thetray member holds the cake in position when in the inclined positionwithout obstructing access for the nozzle. I

In order that the cakes may be conveyed continuously and not stopped atthe filling means, the filling means is preferably arranged to moveforward in synchronism with the conveyor when the nozzles are injectedinto the cakes.

Owing to possible inaccuracy in transverse alignment of doughnutsleaving a frying bath, the apparatus pref erably includes alignmentmeans for aligning cakes in transverse rows before reaching the cakeholders. Preferably said alignment means comprises a second conveyorbefore reaching the cake holders, said second conveyor including anon-driven support surface over which the cakes pass in parallel linesside by side, and a plurality of downwardly projecting indexingabutments arranged above respective lines of cakes, the abutments beingdriven in synchronism and arranged to abut the cakes and push themacross the non-driven surface so that the cakes leave the non-drivensurface in accurately aligned transverse rows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of anapparatus embodying the invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the transverse alignment section of theapparatus shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the filling station in the apparatus shownin FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is'a modification of the arrangement shown in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENTS the conveyor 11 and the gate12 is operated by a piston and cylinder device 13 via a linkage 13a.When the gate 12 is raised the doughnuts arriving on the rollers 11 arestopped by the gate so that alignment in transverse rows is achieved.The gate 12 may then be raised to release one transverse row at a time.The unit 14 includes an alignment unit 15 for ensuring accuratealignment of the doughnuts in transverse rows, followed by a fillingunit 16 at which cream or jelly is injected into the doughnuts andfinally a discharge end 17 at which the filled doughnuts pass on to afurther conveyor 18 leading to, for example, an icing machine (notshown). Throughout the main unit 14, the doughnuts are conveyedhorizontally in six parallel lanes, the doughnuts remaining in alignedtransverse rows. On passing the gate 12, the doughnuts pass onto anaccelerating conveyor 19 arranged to introduce a space between adjacenttransverse rows of doughnuts. The conveyor 19 is followed by anon-driven support surface in the form of a dead plate 20. Arrangedabove the conveyor 19 and dead plate 20 is an indexing system comprisinga closed loop belt 21 having downwardly projecting indexing fingers 22arranged above each lane of doughnuts. The belt 21 is spaced above theconveyor 19 so that as doughnuts move along the conveyor 19 an indexingfinger 22 on the lower surface of the belt 21 engages the rear edge of adoughnut and pushes it across the dead plate 20. By providing the deadplate 20, it is ensured that the indexing fingers 22 come intoengagement with the doughnuts so that all the doughnuts in onetransverse row are pushed off the dead plate 20 at the same instant bythe synchronised indexing fingers associated with each line ofdoughnuts. On leaving the dead surface 20, the doughnuts pass onto amain conveyor 23 which consists of a closed loop conveyor passing roundtwo end rollers 24 and 25. The conveyor consists of a plurality oftransverse rows of cake holders 26. The cake holders for eachtransverserow are joined together as one unit having six stainless steeltray members attached to two stainless steel rods 26a and 26b extendingacross the width of the conveying path. Each tray member is formed from.folded sheet to provide a flat base 27 on which the doughnut may rest,an upstanding front wall 28 and a downward projection 29. The rod 26a isjoined to the junction of the base 27 and wall 28. The rod 26b is joinedto the lower edge of the downward projection 29. The ends of each rod26a are pivotally connected to the driving loop 32 of the conveyor. Agenerally horizontal guide rail 33 extends along the upper part of theconveyor 23 at each lateral edge of the conveyor. The ends of the rods26b are arranged to rest on the rail 33 which acts as a cam surface. Therail is arranged so that the cake holders immediately adjacent thedischarge end of the indexing unit are horizontal. In this way thedoughnuts leave the dead plate and pass onto the flat bases 27 of thecake holders. The roller 24 and the drive mechanism for the belt 21 andconveyor 19 are linked so that the arrival of the doughnuts and the cakeholders is synchronised and the indexing fingers 22 push the doughnutsforwards against the front wall 28 of each cake holder. Once in positionon the cake holders, the doughnuts are conveyed towards the filling unit16. A guard rail 10 extends along the side of each lane of doughnuts toretain the lanes in strict alignment. The rail 33 rises before reachingthe filling unit so that as the cake holdersenter the filling unit therods 26b are raised by the rail 33 so that the cake holders pivot aboutthe axis of the rods 26a and tilt to an angle of 45 to the horizontal asshown in FIG. 4. As will be seen from FIG. 4, it is the trailing edge ofthe cake holders which is raised. By tilting the doughnuts and cakeholders in this way, the rear edge of each doughnut becomes exposed asthere is no rear wall to the cake holders and the tilting operationraises the exposed rear edge so that it is not obstructed by adjacenttransverse rows of doughnuts. While the doughnuts move continuouslythrough the filling unit 16,jam or cream filling is injected into eachtransverse row of doughnuts, one row being filled at a time. This isachieved by a filling head 36 which extends transversely across the fullwidth of the conveyor and is provided with a number of projectingneedles 37 one arranged for each of the six lanes of doughnuts. Theneedles 37 are provided with an outlet nozzle 37a adjacent the pointedend of the needle. The head 36 carries a cake location bracket 38 whichextends across the full width of the conveyor. The head 36 is slidablymounted in a frame 39 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The whole frame 39 ismounted on wheels 39b and may be moved horizontally backwards andforwards, as shown by the arrow A, in the frame 39 by means of a drivemechanism 40. The head 36 is fixed to a member 39a slidable betweenguides 396 so that the head 36 may be raised and lowered in the inclineddirection shown by the arrow B by means of a drive mechanism 41 andlinkage 41a. At the beginning of each filling operation, the member 39ais lowered with the frame 39 in the right hand position as shown inFIG. 1. This causes the head 36 and plate 38 to take up the positionshown in FIG. 4 and the needles 37 which are retractable, and alsoinclined 45 to the horizontal, are projected forwardly so as to passinto the doughnuts through the exposed rear edge of each doughnut. Thedrive mechanism 40 then automatically moves the frame 39 and fillinghead 36 forwards in synchronism with the forward movement of thedoughnuts and cream or jelly is injected through the needles 37 from ahopper and pump unit 44 shown in FIG. 2. When the required quantity offilling material has been injected, the needles 37 are retracted intothe head 36, the bracket 38 thereby acting as a stripper plate. Once theneedles have been retracted, the head 36 is raised to release thefilling head from that transverse row of doughnuts and the filling head36 is moved towards the right as seen in FIG. 1 so as to be in positionto start the next filling operation with the next transverse row ofdoughnuts. Once filled, the doughnuts remain tilted until the cakeholders pass over the roller 25 at the discharge end 17 of the mainconveyor. The doughnuts are then tipped out of the cake holders onto theconveyor 18. I

In this particular example each transverse row of cake holders isconveniently manufactured by pressing from sheet material so as toprovide six open top tray members at spaced intervals along the holder.

By use of the above example, a plurality of lanes of doughnuts may beautomatically filled, The indexing unit 15 ensures accurate alignment intransverse rows. Furthermore, the tilting mechanism at the filling unitenables injection of filling material to take place in several parallellanes of doughnuts simultaneously. It is commercially necessary toinject filling through the side wall of doughnuts rather than the top orbottom and this tilting mechanism allows injection through the sidewalls of several parallel lanes of doughnuts simultaneously.

The synchronism of movement between the drive devices 40 and 41 and theconveyor 23 is achieved by using a common electric motor 45 to drivethem all.

The invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing example.

FIG. 5 shows a modified arrangement of the cake holders and guide rail.Similar reference numerals have been used for similar parts to thosepreviously described. In this case, the guide rail 33 drops againshortly after passing the filling station so that the cake holders arerestored to the horizontal position before reaching the end roller 25.Furthermore, in this case each transverse row of trays 26 has at itsopposite ends a lug 30 pivotally connected to the conveyor instead ofthe rod 26a, and a downwardly projecting plate 29 which engages the rail33 instead of the rod 26b. The bracket 38 is in this case shaped to actas a lid for the cake holders during the filling operation so that eachdoughnut is sandwiched between the base 27 and the parallel part of thebracket 38. This prevents excessive expansion in thickness during thefilling operation.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for injecting filling material into cakes, such asdoughnuts, which apparatus comprises a conveyor comprising a pluralityof cake'holders arranged to convey successive transverse rows of cakesalong a horizontal conveying path, the cake holders providing aplurality of cake positions side by side in each transverse row so thata plurality of cakes are conveyed along parallel paths, filling meanslocated adjacent the conveyor and including a plurality of injectingnozzles extending across the conveying path with at least one nozzleadjacent each cake position, means for tilting the cake holders whenadjacent the filling means so that the base of each cake in the rowadjacent thefilling means is inclined to the horizontal and therebyexposes downwardly at the same angle as the inclination of the cakeholders.

7; Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the filling means isarrangedto move forward in synchronism with the conveyor when the nozzles areinjected into an edge region of the cake, and means for effectingrelative reciprocating movement between the injection nozzles and therow of cakes adjacent the filling means to inject the nozzles into theexposed edge regions of the cakes, whereby filling materials may beinjected into the cakes, and then withdraw the nozzles from the cakes.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the direction ofreciprocating movement to inject the nozzles is parallel to the inclinedbases of the cakes.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the cake holders eachcomprise an open tray member having a side wall adjacent only the edgeof each cake remote from the nozzles when tilted.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the row of cake holders istilted about a horizontal axis transverse to the conveyor so as to raisethe trailing edge of the row of cakes.

the cakes.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 including alignment means for aligningthe cakes in transverse rows before reaching the cake holders.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, in whichsaid alignment meanscomprises a second conveyor before reaching the cake holders, saidsecond conveyor including a non-driven support surface over which thecakes-pass in parallel lines side by side, and a plurality of downwardlyprojecting indexing abutments arranged above respective lines of cakes,the abutments being driven in synchronism and arranged to abut the cakesand push them across the non-driven surface so that the cakes leave thenon-driven surface in accurately aligned transverse rows.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, in which the indexing abutments arearranged on one or more belt conveyors spaced above the non-drivensurface.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which the nondriven surface ispreceded by a driven conveyor.

l l l

1. Apparatus for injecting filling material into cakes, such asdoughnuts, which apparatus comprises a conveyor comprising a pluralityof cake holders arranged to convey successive transverse rows of cakesalong a horizontal conveying path, the cake holders providing aplurality of cake positions side by side in each transverse row so thata plurality of cakes are conveyed along parallel paths, filling meanslocated adjacent the conveyor and including a plurality of injectingnozzles extending across the conveying path with at least one nozzleadjacent each cake position, means for tilting the cake holders whenadjacent the filling means so that the base of each cake in the rowadjacent the filling means is inclined to the horizontal and therebyexposes an edge region of the cake, and means for effecting relativereciprocating movement between the injection nozzles and the row ofcakes adjacent the filling means to inject the nozzles into the exposededge regions of the cakes, whereby filling materials may be injectedinto the cakes, and then withdraw the nozzles from the cakes. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the direction of reciprocatingmoVement to inject the nozzles is parallel to the inclined bases of thecakes.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the cake holders eachcomprise an open tray member having a side wall adjacent only the edgeof each cake remote from the nozzles when tilted.
 4. Apparatus accordingto claim 1 in which the row of cake holders is tilted about a horizontalaxis transverse to the conveyor so as to raise the trailing edge of therow of cakes.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the cakeholders are pivotally mounted on the conveyor and each row of holders isprovided with one or more cam devices arranged to engage an abutmentmember adjacent the filling means so as to pivot the cake holders. 6.Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the filling means extends abovethe conveyor and includes a plurality of reciprocating nozzle membersprojecting downwardly at the same angle as the inclination of the cakeholders.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the filling means isarranged to move forward in synchronism with the conveyor when thenozzles are injected into the cakes.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 1including alignment means for aligning the cakes in transverse rowsbefore reaching the cake holders.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, inwhich said alignment means comprises a second conveyor before reachingthe cake holders, said second conveyor including a non-driven supportsurface over which the cakes pass in parallel lines side by side, and aplurality of downwardly projecting indexing abutments arranged aboverespective lines of cakes, the abutments being driven in synchronism andarranged to abut the cakes and push them across the non-driven surfaceso that the cakes leave the non-driven surface in accurately alignedtransverse rows.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9, in which theindexing abutments are arranged on one or more belt conveyors spacedabove the non-driven surface.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 9 inwhich the non-driven surface is preceded by a driven conveyor.